292 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



air and sun. stiffen and smooth them : or, if his first appear- 

 ance above water happen to be in the middle, he then lies 

 upon the surface of the water like a ship at hull ; for his feet 

 are totally useless to him there, and he cannot creep upon the 

 water as the STONE-FLY can, until his wings have got stiffness 

 to fly with (if by some trout or grayling he be not taken in 

 the interim, which ten to one he is), and then his wings stand 

 high, and closed exact upon his back, like the butterfly, and 

 his motion in flying is the same. His body is, in some, of a 

 paler, in others, of a darker yellow; for they are not all 

 exactly of a colour, ribbed with rows of green, long, slender, 

 and growing sharp towards the tail, at the end of which he 

 has three long small whisks of a very dark colour, almost 

 black, and his tail turns up towards his back like a mallard ; 

 from whence, questionless, he has his name of the GREEN- 

 DRAKE. These, as I think I told you before, we commonly 

 dape, or dibble with, and having gathered great store of 

 them into a long draw-box, with holes in the cover to give 

 them air (where also they will continue fresh and vigorous a 

 night or more), we take them out thence by the wings, and 

 bait them thus upon the hook. We first take one (for we 

 commonly fish with two of them at a time), and putting the 

 point of the hook into the thickest part of his body, under 

 one of his wings, run it directly through, and out at the other 

 side, leaving him spitted cross upon the hook ; and then 

 taking the other, put him on after the same manner, but with 

 his head the contrary way ; in which posture they will live 

 upon the hook, and play with their wings, for a quarter of an 

 hour or more ; but you must have a care to keep their wings 

 dry, both from the water, and also that your fingers be not 

 wet when you take them out to bait them, for then your bait 

 is spoiled.* 



* The two preceding paragraphs are worthy of Cotton's reputation. They 

 contain a good description of the natural May-fly, or Green-Drake, and teach 

 how that fly is to be angled with in a live state. His method of making it 

 artificially is not the best, in my judgment. I have written fully, carefully, 

 and, I think, as accurately as may be, of the May-fly in "A Handbook of 

 Angling," saying of it, " This famous fly is the opprobrium of fly-makers. Try 

 how they will, they cannot in my opinion, imitate it well. The wings are 

 their greatest foil. In making the body, they succeed tolerably well. Still 

 the best imitation is defective, and, except upon certain occasions, the artificial 

 May-fly is not a deadly bait. The natural fly used in dibbing far surpasses it. 

 However, the imitation, faulty as it is, will kill when the natural fly is scarce 

 on the water, as in cold, dark, windy days. The artificial fly answers best in 

 currents, and in pools or deeps that are moved to small waves by a bluff south 

 or west wind. The general feather used for the wings of this fly is a dappled 



